THEORETICALLY FRAMING
THESOCIOLOGY OF THE ROAD

THINKING (AND OBSERVING) METAPHORICALLY

A definition is no proof.
--William Pinkney, American diplomat (1764-1822)

Like moths to lights, humans are attracted to organizing principles that give
order, predictability, and meaning to life's random events. Through schemas, models,
metaphors and myths, humans have sought to make sense of their world. People view
their worlds in terms of certain models and "see" what they expect to see.
Scientific theory is another of these ways by which experiences are organized and given
coherence. In the abstract, science is nothing more than the exercise of developed
perception. Its metaphors and theories direct our attention to particular phenomena and
inform us about those things we are to ignore. The first step of any science when
approaching and conceptualizing any unknown phenomenon is to think about it in terms
of known metaphors. To describe the novel, one is forced to use known terms.

Consider the concept of society. What is it? How is it possible? How do the
activities of thousands or millions of people come to be coordinated into some whole?

At the turn of the century in the wake of Darwin's ideas, some social theorists
conceptualized societies to be various organisms competing for survival on the inhabitable
portions of earth. Differing in their adaptability to changing "environments" (meaning not
only volcanic eruptions, plagues and droughts but also new technological innovations,
contacts with new cultures, and new religious or political ideologies), these social
organisms are governed by the same survival-of-the-fittest laws as affect prairie dogs and
Andean condors.

Applying this organic metaphor to the internal workings of a given society can
give us some fairly nauseating insights. As a pig passes through a python so baby-boomers
pass through American society, stretching the system (i.e., larger classrooms when
school-aged, housing shortages when coming of age, fat layers of middle-management
when middle-aged, etc.). As tissue grows around blood supplies so social organization
grows around the flow of social resources, whether they be commerce, information, or
knowledge. And with evolution--in other words, with the adaptations accruing in the
struggles for survival--these parts and processes become increasingly complex, with greater
differentiation and specialization. Hence, these theorists thought, where challenges for
change are the greatest (i.e., those in the tropics didn't have to invent snowblowers and
thermal underwear) you will find simple tribes evolving into complex nation-states. The
"body politic" comes to have an elaborate communications system as its central nervous
system, a political system for a brain (there will admittedly be controversy here), a vast
military system for claws and fangs, and so forth. With the model in place, one can go on
to perhaps liken crime to cancer (where portions of the social body feeds upon itself) or to
parasitism (the animal kingdom is filled with non-productive thieves) and liken the
growing bureaucracies as hardening of the arteries, slowing down decision-makings and
abilities to respond to external threats.

Another metaphor by which to conceptualize society is to think of it as a series
of theatrical dramas replete with their own stages and backstages, props, and costumes. In
each, individuals assume the appropriate roles and interact with each other
largely on the basis of drama-specific scripts. We may argue, for instance, that educational
systems are feudal arrangements

Shifting from society to the individual, from macro to micro, what metaphors come to mind when
thinking about people's feelings, thoughts and, most importantly, their behaviors? This choice
of metaphor, in fact, remains the subject of considerable debate in social psychology. Can
students' studying be likened to Pavlov's drooling dogs, with the first successful completion
of homework being rewarded by candy and hugs and ultimately becoming motivated by a
letter of the alphabet? In other words, is it all a matter of reinforcements? Can the way
people make decisions be equated with the workings of a computer? Or might we think
of all social action as being theatrical productions, where society is but a series of dramas
("The Family," "Work," etc.) wherein we act out our various roles ("Starring Me as the
Oldest Brother," "And Also Featuring Jill as the Part-Time Receptionist,"
etc.).

In sum, at a minimum, metaphoric thinking provides order to what otherwise
may be seen as random, unrelated phenomena. At a maximum, it provides an
operating model or paradigm (from the Greek
paradeigma, meaning an example, a model or a pattern) for the phenomena to
be studied.

Here let us play with the metaphor of society as the roadways of life, the
various paths on which individuals move through time and space to reach their
destinations, their life goals. These pathways are not
"natural" but rather are socially constructed routes, whose directions and rules vary both
by culture (for instance, directed toward the capitalistic goals of competition and
acquisitiveness, or, perhaps, toward some theocracy's goal of spiritual self-enlightenment)
and by social attributes of its members (i.e., travelers' sex, race, age, social class or caste).

METATHEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS

Of all of life's realms, those routine activities requiring the most "wide awake"
state--such as hunting large game, nurturing one's crops, or surviving at sea-- provide
individuals with their primary orientations toward social life. In other words, activities
demanding our greatest attention produce patterns of thinking that become master
cognitive templates for "framing" and describing all other social experiences. In part, the
essence of the phenomenon we call "culture" derives from those wide-awake experiences
which are most broadly and repeatedly shared and internalized. In the simpler times in
the past, this realm of common experience derived from the shared form of subsistence
work required to survive--first agriculture (hence the flock and shepherd metaphors of the
Bible) and later the machine. However, with the increasing specialization and
differentiation of work associated with modernization, this traditional work-oriented basis
for shared cultural experiences has largely dissolved.

Let us run with the proposition that the specific "wide awake" condition most
widely shared in contemporary American society is the act of driving. As my driving
instructor used to stress many years ago (always expecting a reaction of respectful awe due
to his most mind-blowing fact), there you are rolling sixty miles-an-hour on a few thousand
pounds of steel with only four hand-size pieces of rubber between you and the ground. No
room here to drift into one's own little world (which may be why the highly intelligent have
higher accident rates). Drivers must be of common mind if they are to reach their life's
destinations. To ensure the existence of such a "common mind" there exist the "rules of
the road," including norms, mores and laws.

With this metaphor let us explore some of the core sociological questions about the man
and society:

To what extent does society exist "out there," something
external to individual actors, as opposed to being an idea carried in their minds?

What would life be like without society?

How is society even possible?

How does social change occur?

"MACRO" FACETS OF THE METAPHOR

Many introductory sociology texts begin with an inventory of the central theories
and theorists of the discipline, developing the distinction between "macro"
and "micro" sociology. From the more expansive perspectives of the former, the
roadways can be viewed as analogous to society itself, appearing from the air as a complex
system of arteries and veins, with vehicles appearing as small blood cells. Private driveways
feed onto semiprivate residential streets, which, in turn, feed into larger and
more public roads, and so on until they are linked to the super interstate
highways.

The roadway can also be viewed as a system of shared paths for taking
individuals to their destinations/goals, replete with numerous mores and laws. Macro sociologists
would concern themselves with such issues as the centrality of fossil fuels (instead of
"Put a Tiger in Your Tank" it's "Put a Dinosaur in Your
Tank") to the American
political
economy and its bearing on American foreign policy.

"Micro" perspectives: DRIVING AS METAPHOR FOR SOCIAL ACTION

For micro-sociologists, driving provides a rich illustration of how
social systems can shape their members' attention, perceptions, decision making, relationships,
actions, and their very identities. Driving is an institutionalized
activity, a system of prescriptions for how we are to traverse these social pathways to
reach our life's destinations, and of expectations
about the behaviors of others.

This system--e.g., the rules of the road,
driving courtesies, highway culture, driving self-presentations, etc.--determines
how personal needs are meshed with the social. From the individual perspective,
the goal is to go from point A to point B in the minimum amount of time.
But this decision affects many other people. If thousands of people also
decide to go to point B, gridlock results. From society's perspective,
the goal is to maximize the number of motorists reaching their destinations
in the shortest possible time. Since separate roads cannot be created for
each driver, rules of the road emerge. These rules allow as many drivers
as possible to reach their goals in ways that minimally impede others from
reaching theirs.

Social acting, like driving, is largely habitual behavior, triggered by
definitions of situations, others' behaviors, etc. Most of us mindlessly
"cruise on automatic."

Before backing out of the driveway or approaching a freeway on an entry ramp,
a driver must check for the flow of traffic. Likewise, before carrying out an action such as
entering into a conversation, careful analysis is required. Actors must determine the
current drift of conversation as well as examining those engaging in the conversation.
Analogous to waiting for passing cars, one must wait until someone has finished speaking
before entering the conversation stream.

RECASTING SOCIAL HISTORY

In the earliest times, trips were short and most individuals traveled
together (i.e, in small hunting and gathering groups, caravans, trains,
etc.). Here the basic social unit was not the individual but rather one's
tribe or clan. Relations were intimate, and most others were known as
whole selves. With industrialization and urbanization, persons became
increasingly atomized, driving now in their own vehicles. To live in an
earlier Gemeinschaft
road culture means driving where social solidarity is high, where all drivers and pedestrians know
you and your family. Here social control works thusly: Failure to observe the rules of the road
would reflect poorly on both you and your kin, and undoubtedly news of your misdeeds would
get back to your family. In a Gesellschaft culture, on the other hand,
roadways get more crowded, increasingly filled with strangers. Previously
disenfranchised groups, such as women and minorities, now demand their equal
access.

Indeed,
during the nineties we hear more stories of road
rage, highway violence, and a growing tolerance of the Jerry Springers
and Latrell Sprewells on the road. What's happening? In part, it is
our increasing atomization and the increasingly crowded roadways. The age
of roadway politeness has past, which is why stories of Good Samaritans have
become news. Out of fear, we drive with a "don't piss off the
other" ethos. From the 1980s on, Americans have become busier than
ever. Free time evaporates. There are more stops to make.
Behind heavily shaded windows in our increasingly large vehicles, with cellular
phones in hand, the distractions of auto CD players and fax machines, we have
become too busy to see the proverbial "big picture." For those
who don't know where they are and are afraid to ask, there are GPS
navigation systems.